Newcastle’s top six surge can gain momentum with Liverpool visit

Alan Pardew's men set to strengthen European place claims with narrow home win

After dumfounding pundits all season long with their consistency, Newcastle United can move even closer to cementing a top six finish by beating Liverpool at 6/4 on Sunday.

Newcastle have lost just once in their past five Premier League matches, and having lost just twice at home all season, the Magpies will see the visit of faltering Liverpool as a perfect opportunity to further improve their St James’s Park record.

Alan Pardew’s men have won more than half of their home matches this term, and with 6/4 Liverpool losing over 50% of their games on the road, everything would seem to point to another home success for the Toon Army.

In stark contrast to their hosts, Liverpool’s domestic league form has been patchy at best, with an almost equal distribution of results occurring in terms of wins, losses and draws in their 30 games played.

Kenny Dalglish has come under scrutiny following the Reds’ last two league games also, as they suffered defeats against sides desperate to collect points for reasons very different to Newcastle’s in QPR and Wigan.

The Anfield outfit threw away a two goal lead when succumbing to their loss at Loftus Road in fact, and you can get a big 22/1 on them to be leading at half-time here but suffer a defeat by full-time.

With just one league place but eight points separating these two sides in the Premier League standings, it now looks incredibly far-fetched for Dalglish’s Liverpool to attain Champions League qualification with eight games remaining, but Newcastle’s chances could be re-ignited with a victory here.

The Tyneside club sit only five points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham, and could mount an assault on the top four should they continue to pick up wins on a consistent basis, with Liverpool the first obstacle this weekend.